The ever-increasing demand for higher data rates and bandwidth has resulted in the development of technology that increases the amount of data that can be pushed through a single channel. Advancements in modulation techniques, coding algorithms and error correction have vastly increased the data rates that can be transmitted. As an example, at one time the highest data rate that could travel across a network or link was at about one Gigabit per second. Over time, this rate has increased to the point where data can travel across networks such as, but not limited to: Gigabit Ethernet and Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) and Fibre Channel, at rates as high as 10 gigabits per second, or faster. These networks, and others, typically conform to at least one of a number of established standards, specification or protocols. Such standards are used to set the rules governing network access as well as communications between resources, such as transmitters, data links and receivers, that make up a piece of equipment, system or network.
Equipment, systems and networks at these higher data rates use embedded clocks and typically have a greater susceptibility to data link problems. These data link problems include, but are not limited to: jitter, reduced signal integrity and degradation of bit error rate (BER) performance. Background art apparatus and methods for determining whether jitter, signal integrity, or degrading bit error rates problems exist are typically: (1) very complex; and (2) require a great deal of expertise in the area of electronics and signal analysis. Without such complex apparatus and methods, there currently is no simple way to determine if the data link problems discussed above exist in equipments, systems and networks. Therefore, there is a need in the art for apparatus and methods that detect data link problems in equipment, systems and networks with high data rates.